Church and state collide in the corridors of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, where the students square off in Qur’an recital contests and the head of the Muslim Brotherhood eats Big Macs on the sly. On the prospectus it’s billed as “a beacon of Islam”. In reality it’s a warren of dark corners, a place so thick with intrigue that even the most astute student of conspiracy thrillers may sometimes find themselves struggling to keep up.
Our hero is Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), a lowly fisherman’s son who’s awarded a scholarship, only to be promptly recruited as a government informant. Now he’s working for Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares), the wily, bear-like state enforcer, wedged in between the warring factions, scared half out of his wits. Each night, he beds down in a cramped dormitory, surrounded by his fellow students. For all he knows, they might be spies and informants themselves.
Galvanised by the sudden death of the chief imam, Tarik Saleh’s political saga turns progressively knottier and more claustrophobic, almost to a fault. But it’s also horribly tense, richly textured and showcases a terrific supporting performance from Fares as the tale’s shadowy Thomas Cromwell figure. Ibrahim has been in the game long enough to view himself as a battle-hardened survivor. More likely, he’s just another pawn in the game, to be toppled and replaced as part of some wider gambit.
